WHITEMARSH — The Abington Friends and Germantown Academy boys’ basketball teams had a lot in common before facing each other on Wednesday night.

Both squads recently won their respective league titles and both rode winning streaks this season that went into double digits. The two teams entered their playoff matchup with each other with identical 20-6 overall records and both teams are run by a head coach who took over for his respective program before a single player on either side was even born.

But as is the case in any other state playoff game, one team had to come out victorious and one team had to watch its season end in disappointment.

In this particular instance, it was the Patriots who came out on top, defeating the Kangaroos by a score of 67-63 in a PA Independent Schools (PAISAA) semifinal in front of a packed house at Germantown Academy High School.

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And if the two teams didn’t already have enough in common, after four quarters of play, things were all at even at 58-58, forcing the Patriots to need overtime to come out with the win.

Big men Greg Dotson and Julian Moore led GA (21-6) with 23 and 20 points, respectively, while senior guard James Drury scored seven points in the extra period to help the Patriots to hold on for victory, despite blowing a 16-point lead in regulation.

“We knew AFS was a very good and very well-coached team and we knew they would play hard for a full 32 minutes,” GA coach Jim Fenerty said. “I was just proud of my guys. We were out there with a freshman and a sophomore at the point and they just came up big for us and I’m happy to move on. In this thing, it’s win and advance or lose and a game, so we’ll move on to Friday night now.”

The Patriots’ offense got started early, going up 11-3 after five minutes thanks to the play of Dotson and Moore, who combined on 11 of GA’s 18 first-quarter points, while also controlling the boards.

In the second quarter, the Patriots came out strong, building their lead to 16 points, at 28-12, but a pair of three-pointers by Tony Carr and a last-second layup and free throw by Montana Mayfield helped AFS to finish the half on a 12-2 run, cutting GA’s lead to 30-24 as the two teams went to the break.

“It’s just how the flow of the game goes,” said AFS coach Steve Chadwin, whose team came back from down 16 to defeat Friends’ Central in the Friends Schools League championship game last Saturday. “We got some stops and played good defense and made some shots, but what hurt us was the offensive glass and foul shooting. We didn’t get to the foul line and they did.”

Despite getting heavily outrebounded and not getting to the foul line, AFS played unbelievable in the final two quarters.

The second half began with AFS keeping the game relatively close, but the Patriots’ free throw shooting continued to keep them on top, as GA knocked down its first eight free throws in the opening three minutes of the quarter and it was able to regain its double-digit lead. But yet again, the ‘Roos fought back, using a 10-2 run late in the third quarter to get to within one point. In the period, Jordan Greene knocked down three shots from beyond the arc to help get AFS back in the game.

With GA leading 46-45 entering in the fourth, the ‘Roos were not going to be denied, as Mayfield got a steal, drove to the hole, hit a basket and got fouled in the process, giving AFS its first lead of the entire game (48-46) at the 6:58 mark of the final quarter.

Later in the quarter, after Dotson hit back-to-back layups to put GA back on top by four, AFS freshman Tony Carr knocked down his third trey of the game to again make it a one-point game. On the next AFS possession, Carr again drained a three-pointer, putting AFS back up by two, at 54-52.

In the final possession, with the ‘Roos leading in the final seconds, a tip-back by Moore with one second to play tied the game up for the Patriots at forced overtime.

“Offensive rebounds and put-backs and dunks just continued to hurt us,” Chadwin said. “We had trouble guarding them in the paint and also, they’re guards were quick. We didn’t do enough on the glass.”

In overtime, Drury drained a three-pointer to put GA on top and then hit four consecutive free throws to help the Patriots to earn the victory and keep their season alive.

“James is the most underappreciated guy in the Inter-Ac,” said Fenerty, who was without his starting guard and big-time scorer, Nick Lindner, the Lafayette University-bound who missed his fourth consecutive game with a concussion. “All he does is knock down shots and knock down foul shots when we need. He plays defense and he does everything we need. The bottom line is that in the overtime, we wanted the ball in our seniors hands, so I’m just happy to see him play like that. People say we lost a Division 1 point guard, which we did, but we’re undefeated since then because the other guys have worked their tails off to get better. James just took over when we needed him to.”

Drury knockdown three treys and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line en route to his 15 points. Moore and Dotson both finished in double digits in rebounding to earn double-doubles.

The ‘Roos were led by Joe Robinson’s 16 points. Mayfield added 14 points and a game-high six steals, while Carr added 13 points. Greene chipped in with 10.

With the win, GA, the Inter-Ac champion, moves onto the PAISAA semifinals for a meeting with Haverford, which beat Westtown earlier on Wednesday. The game will be played Friday night at Malvern Prep High School.

“This was a huge win,” Drury said. “We wanted to go undefeated in the Inter-Ac and win the league, which we did, but we also wanted to win the state championship and in order to that, we had to win today, so that was pretty big. Our main goal was to win the league and the state tournament and if we keep playing the way we have and can, I think we will.”

The ‘Roos, who captured their first FSL title in seven years this past weekend, had its season end with an overall record of 20-7.

“I’m proud of my team,” Chadwin said. “I’m proud of the way they handled themselves. We had a great season, won the league, got to the second round and played the No. 1 seed. One miss in regulation and we win this. I’m very happy with my team and this season.”